Titlis caving

While skiing on the rainy Titlis, I saw a crack cave by the slopes, and also visited an ice cave for tourists.

The crack was tight, I wasn't able to enter it in my ski gear for more than a foot or two, but I suspect one might be able to enter it in the summer. The crack was pretty big though, high, long, and also open from the other end.

The ice cave was a nice experience -- also free -- but felt a bit artificial. It is in fact under an (artificially?) piled area of snow and ice next to the top station. But inside the frozen blocks of ice, with flowers inside were very beautiful.

Coordinates for the crack cave: N 46.78861 E 8.41332. The ice cave is at N 46.77087 E 8.42355, at the top of Titlis, accessible from the lowest level of the lift & restaurant building.

Beautiful frozen flowers at the ice cave at the top of Titlis:

Ice age!

See more caving stories at planetcaver.net, and see other articles by the planetskier at Blogspot and TGR! Photos and text (c) 2020 by Jari Arkko. All rights reserved.

Rainy day

When an opportunity opens up, one has to take it, even if the weather is -- as the Engelberg tourist office said -- "very bad".  I had a couple of friends joining the trip, originally, but they all bailed out citing "heavy rain" and "100 km/h winds" as reasons. But, I had a nice ski day.

The day was nice because I had good clothing and the visor helmet that protects me from getting wet better than regular goggles. And because the mountain was still skiable, there really wasn't any crowds anywhere, because i managed to see a small crack cave next to the slopes, and because at the top of Titlis there's an ice cave that tourists can walk through. And because there was a nice sauna at the airport Hilton in Zürich, the base where I'll be staying during my meeting week. Not bad for this weather!

Also, I saved the testing of my new yellow Everest jacket for a rainy day. It worked, even if the weather was this bad. A bit warm jacket though, can only be used in colder days. My old ski pants on the other hand, were leaking somewhat. Perhaps I should re-treat them with the suitable chemicals.

Here's how it looked from the lift:

I rented a car to Engelberg from Hertz, and they were nice enough to give me a brand new Mercedes 350, with a heads-up display and other goodies:

Lunch at the top of Titlis, with a view (?):

More rainy pictures:

The walkway towards the Titlis top lift:

Discussions with the tourist office, and webcam pictures:

Bus at the end of the ski run:



The author, dripping wet:



This article has also been published at TGR. And all skiing articles are of course at Planetskier.net! You can also read all the Planetskier and Planetcaver articles at Blogspot and TGR. Photos, videos, and text (c) 2019 by Jari Arkko. All rights reserved.

Saunas at the Hilton Zürich Airport

It seems insane to stay at airport hotels, but this time it worked well for me. Convenient for the early morning departure, free train ticket to my meeting site, and, most importantly, a nice sauna department!

There were two saunas, a steam room and. then a Finnish type sauna. Or rather, a Swiss type sauna, with the heater under the benches, and pouring water to a small bucket on the wall will feed the heater.

More sauna stories at Saunablogger.cool! Photos and text (c) 2020 by Jari Arkko. All rights reserved. All sauna photos are taken with permission, when there have been no other guests, or when the facilities have been closed.